A new vaccine against Enteritidis Salmonella

This involves a world pandemia considered to be the most importante zoonosis or illness/infection transmissible salmonellosis by animals to humans under natural conditions. It is estimated that the incidence of acute worldwide is more than a thousand million cases per annum and causes three million deaths.

The project developed by Javier Ochoa at the University of Navarre Faculty of Science centred on the investigation of a new vaccine based on the encapsulation of the components of the Salmonella enteritidis cell sheath. The vaccine has shown itself to be efficacious in mice infected with this illness and is currently being employed on experimental farms of Hipra laboratories in Gerona, a company involved in the control of pathogens in birds.

Low efficacy of vaccines applied

Farmyard fowl and their derivatives are recognised as the most important source of infection of Salmonella enteritidis in humans. Both the World Health organisation (WHO) and the European Union have laid down guidelines in order to erradicate the infection in fowl, the benefits of this for humans being evident. It is generally accepted that the most practical measure is vaccination, as the easiest to apply and the most economic but, to date, all thos applied have proved to have low efficacy.

In Spain, Salmonella enteritidis is the bacteria that causes 85% of food-provoked gastroenteritis. In the concrete case of Navarre, there were 343 food poisoning cases in 2003, of which 79 were grouped together in 14 outbreaks, 12 due to Salmonella.

Cellulose obtained from wood has amazing material properties. Empa researchers are now equipping the biodegradable material with additional functionalities to produce implants for cartilage diseases using 3D printing.

It all starts with an ear. Empa researcher Michael Hausmann removes the object shaped like a human ear from the 3D printer and explains:

The phenomenon of so-called superlubricity is known, but so far the explanation at the atomic level has been missing: for example, how does extremely low friction occur in bearings? Researchers from the Fraunhofer Institutes IWM and IWS jointly deciphered a universal mechanism of superlubricity for certain diamond-like carbon layers in combination with organic lubricants. Based on this knowledge, it is now possible to formulate design rules for supra lubricating layer-lubricant combinations. The results are presented in an article in Nature Communications, volume 10.

One of the most important prerequisites for sustainable and environmentally friendly mobility is minimizing friction. Research and industry have been dedicated...